New Year Hope Breathers

Were you devastated from heartaches or losses of one kind or another as you closed out 2022? Has it continued into 2023? I’m so sorry. No matter what you’re suffering, I pray God strengthens you with His measureless grace and pours His peace into Your hurting heart.

🦋 “God has a heart. And it hurts.
Not with just a few drops of ache,
not just with a slow drip of sadness —
His whole massive heart fills, swells,
burns with this raw, relentless pain.”
Ann Voskamp

God’s Grace Is Immeasurable

❤️❤️❤️
“So here’s what I’ve learned through it all:
Leave all your cares and anxieties at the feet of the Lord,
and measureless grace will strengthen you.”
Psalm 55:22 TPT

As I look back to 2022, God truly has been generous with His boundless love and His all-sufficient grace. Does that mean it was free sailing without any struggles? Not at all.

There will always be trials on this earth, but God has promised His measureless grace to get through them. I am such a worrier and feel so helpless to “fix” things, but God is infinitely patient with me. I continue this life-long learning process of more deeply trusting God and leaving all worries and troubles in His Hands. To repeatedly surrender my heart and past, present, and future life and that of others to Him and His faithful love and infinite and powerful grace. To remember to relinquish the things I can’t change and to believe they are better off in God’s hands than mine. But also to seek His wisdom, guidance, and strength to have courage to make a difference wherever He places me.

❤️❤️❤️
The Lord Himself goes before you
and will be with you; 
He will never leave you nor forsake you. 
Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

Deuteronomy 31:8

Nature Retreat

I’m so grateful to receive photos from warmer climates during these cold and snowy winter months! The first 6 photos are of Arizona birds from my brother. 🙂 The rest of the photos are ones my niece took recently on her trip to Hawaii to visit her daughter who lives on the Big Island and studies and rescues sea turtles. 🙂

American Robin
Bridled Titmouse
Hermit Thrush
Arizona Woodpecker
Acorn Woodpecker
Burrowing Owls
Love this view with the lighthouse!
Another Ocean View
Sea Turtles
Green Sea Turtles
Waimea Canyon

March Hope Whispers

Truths That Breathe Hope

❤️ God’s Love Faithfully Remains With Us ❤️

“Be strong and courageous.
Do not be afraid or terrified because of them,
for the Lord your God goes with you;
He will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Deuteronomy 31:6 NIV

❤️ God’s Love Graciously Forgives Us ❤️

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, 
the forgiveness of sins,
in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.”
Ephesians 1:7 NIV

❤️ God’s Love Fully Frees Us ❤️

“Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah,
His blood poured out on the altar of the Cross,
we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments
chalked up by all our misdeeds.
And not just barely free, either.
Abundantly free!”
Ephesians 1:7 The Message

“When I’m kicking and screaming
When I struggle believing
God, You are always faithful
No matter what
When my eyes cannot see it
And my heart doesn’t feel it
God, You are always faithful
No matter what
No matter what…”

Spring Breathes Hope

The robins are here! Yes! Even though we’re still having cold days, it’s a sign that breathes life and hope. We so need that in these troubling times, don’t we? What part of spring breathes hope in your heart?

🦋 “And springtime rallies at the touch of the breath of God.” – Unknown

🦋 “Spring is far more than just a changing of seasons; it’s a rebirth of the spirit.” – Toni Sorenson

🦋 “A life without love is like a year without spring.” – Octavian Paler

Our Suffering Matters to God

All the violence, abuse of power, and painful losses in this troubling world is devastating. So many are suffering loss and pain at home and abroad. Because of this, we may tend to beat ourselves up when we murmur over our own troubles and struggles.

Do you ever minimize your own troubles because others have it worse? Do you ever feel selfish when you feel complaints in your heart over your own suffering? This month God used this blog post to remind me our struggles are always valid to Him. And it’s both necessary and healthy to acknowledge and grieve our own suffering. – Your Suffering Is Valid, Even When Others Have It Worse by Shannon.

“I understand what we are trying to do when we play down our troubles because they are small in comparison to what others are experiencing. We’re trying to put things in perspective so we can be grateful, avoid feeling sorry for ourselves, and be compassionate to others. However, I think minimizing our troubles can sometimes be harmful. It leads us to ignore our feelings, which can increase our stress, cause feelings of self-doubt, harm our self-esteem, and heighten our anxiety.”

“We’re not required to choose between acknowledging either our suffering or their suffering; we can acknowledge both our suffering and their suffering.”

Shannon from Of The Hearth

Nature Retreat

“Perhaps the butterfly is proof
that you can go through a great deal of darkness
yet become something beautiful.”
– Beau Taplin –

“Just when the caterpillar
thought the world was over,
it became a butterfly.”
– Chang Tzu –

I’ve been thinking lately of how a butterfly must struggle first to become beautiful and freed to fly. So this month my heart feels nudged to share some of the butterfly photos I took in 2012 at the butterfly house and to remember why I named this site Freed to Fly.

2020 Hope Whispers

The future is uncertain, but God’s faithful love will always be certain.

When It’s Hard to Understand God’s Plan

2020 has been a tough year. When we experience losses, trauma, and sorrows, it can be so hard to understand God’s plan for us, can’t it?

This year the most read post is one from 2015:

God’s Plan Is Greater Than Ours

“No, in all these things we are more than victorious
through Him who loved us.
For I am persuaded that not even death or life,
angels or rulers, things present or things to come,
hostile powers, height or depth
or any other created thing
will have the power to separate us from the
love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!”

Romans 8:37-39

Nature is a Retreat of Hope

“All my life through
the new sights of nature
made me rejoice
like a child.”
Marie Curie

Thank you to my brother John
for these stunning photos.
🙂 Please respect copyright laws. 🙂
Chipmunk
Botta’s Pocket Gopher
Black-crowned Night Heron
American Avocet
Redhead Male
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Acorn Woodpecker
Osprey With a Meal of Koi